Johnny Thunders - Stations of the Cross

mg196

Johnny Thunders - LAMF
Artist - Johnny Thunders
Title - Stations of the Cross
Year of Release - 1987, 1990 (CD)
Record Label - ROIR
Genre - Rock

Film director Lech Kowalsi originally planned to record a live Johnny Thunders performance for his movie, Stations of the Cross. Well, having Johnny playing the lead role probably wasn't such a great idea: during one scene where JT was supposed to cop drugs from a local dealer, JT disappeared w/ Kowalski's money, not to be seen for several days.

Anyways, Kowalski had a 24-track mobile recording truck set up to record a JT performance for use as the soundtrack to Stations of the Cross. JT refused to play the songs Kowalski needed, but actually played for more than 3 hours. This CD is a distillation of the best stuff JT had to offer that night at the Mudd Club, 9/30/1982.

JT was attacked onstage by a famous NYC junkie at this show (not on this recording), which was quickly followed by JT smashing him in the gut with a baseball swing of his Les Paul TV. What did he play next? "Pipeline" of course!

JT was a little out of it, but still put on a helluva show. The sound is GREAT, thanks to the 24-track unit. For the most part, Thunders was really on fire, tearing it up on "Pipeline," "In Cold Blood," and a really gritty "So Alone." Whenever JT's performance started to sag, the band immediately took control and guided the concert back onto the tracks (no pun intended!). Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure (both former Heartbreakers), and Talarico were ROCK STEADY, keeping perfect timing even when Thunders would start to ramble or miss notes. Nolan will forever be underrated as a drummer. Walter Lure (who is still playing, fronting NYC's "The Waldos") takes over on a couple occasions and takes the lead on a couple tunes as well (Too Much Junkie Business, Seven Day Weekend).

If you have seen the movie Born To Lose: The Last Rock & Roll Movie (a Kowalski production), you have seen footage of this show. Thunders was definitely ragged, playing with his shirt off and his ribs pushing against his thin skin. At this point in the 80's he was getting all his nutrition thru the end of a needle. Even at that, his guitar was still pretty ****in' mean.

If you are a Thunders fan, I would NOT pass on this one. The sound is too good to ignore, and GOOD live recordings of JT are rare indeed. This release (by ROIR) has 21 tracks, with a couple taken from some other footage Kowalski recorded. Specifically, an acoustic "I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys," performed in a hotel room. it happens to be one of my favorite versions of the song.

There are a couple versions of this show, the latest being "Stations of the Cross: Revisited," but that has fewer tracks. I admit that I haven't heard it though. According to the Johnny Thunders Cyber Lounge, it gets rid of some of the babbling excess of this CD and has better all-around material. Looks like I may be checkin' that one out pretty soon!

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